A new stake was created August 23rd in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the capital city of Kinshasa. The Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Kimbanseke Stake was created from a division of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Masina Stake. The new stake consists of four wards and one branch located on the south and east sides of Kinshasa. Although the new stake was created with very few congregations the Church grows rapidly in Kinshasa and several more will likely be created soon. In 2007 the Accra Ghana McCarthy Hill Stake was only created with four wards and a couple branches but since has had many new congregations created. There are now five stakes in Kinshasa and one on the other side of the river in Brazzaville. All together there are seven stakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The creation of the new stake will likely increase the possibility of a future temple in Kinshasa. The nearest temple to the country is in South Africa, over 1,000 miles away. Currently the Kinshasa-Brazzaville metropolitan area is tied with Johannesburg South Africa for the most stakes in one metropolitan area in Africa. Below is a map of the Kinshasa area with different stakes indicated by yellow markers.
View Stakes and Districts in Africa in a larger map
so it seems like it is true that Elder Holland dedicated Rwanda for the preaching of the gospel. I noticed in the church news article that it said there were 8 stakes in the DR Congo not 7.
ReplyDeleteI saw that too and unless there has been another new stake created that we don't know about yet, there are seven stakes in the country. We can expect to see some of the districts in the country become stakes in the near future, mainly the districts based in Kananga and Luputa.
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed with how Elder Holland was quoted saying that there were 56 men sustained to received the Melchizedek Priesthood at the stake conference to create the new stake in Kinshasa. There will be great things in store for this African nation in the future, especially after suffering (and still suffering) so many hardships.